Kitzbühel (Austria), July 26 (IANS) French player Quentin Halys capped his 14-year journey as a professional by winning his maiden ATP Tour title by beating Alexander Bublik in the final of the Generali Open in Kitzbühel in Austria on Saturday.
Halys produced a stunning all-around display to down top seed and 2025 champion Bublik 6-4, 7-6(6) and clinched his first Tour trophy at the clay ATP 250 tournament in Kitzbühel.
Halys, a former junior World No. 3 who earned his first ATP Ranking point in 2012 when he was just 15, fired 17 aces past World No. 11 Bublik to seal an emotional championship-match victory in the Austrian Alps.
“It’s tough not to think about my family, because since I was a kid the goal was to win an ATP title and today the dream came true,” the 29-year-old Halys said at the trophy ceremony. “So thanks to my parents, my grandparents and everybody who made this possible.”
Halys made a great start and continued in the same vein in Saturday’s championship match. The Frenchman began with four consecutive aces to claim the opening game and barely looked back on serve from then on: The Frenchman completed his win having won 41 of 55 points on serve, according to ATP Stats.
“It’s just crazy. I’m so happy,” Halys said in his on-court interview. “I think I played an amazing match today. Sascha is such an amazing player, so I knew I had to play an amazing match to win, and that’s what I did, so I’m so happy. The crowd was crazy, and I hope everybody enjoyed it as much as I did today.”
Halys’ only previous tour-level final came in 2024 in Gstaad, the same event where he and Bublik contested their first ATP head-to-head meeting just nine days ago. Halys upset the Kazakhstani in three sets on that occasion, but he did not need a deciding set on Saturday after he held firm in the second-set tie-break: The Frenchman struck a clean forehand winner to save a set point at 5/6 before converting his first championship point after Bublik netted a drop shot.
“I think winning a first ATP title is going to mean a lot,” Bublik said to Halys at the trophy ceremony. “I remember my first one. I was chasing it for maybe five or six finals, and you did it in the second one, so big congrats to you. Enjoy. It’s always going to be a special one.”
Halys is the first Frenchman to triumph at the Kitzbühel event in the Open Era, with his countrymen going 0-6 in previous final appearances. The big-serving right-hander will on Monday climb 32 spots to No. 51 in the ATP Rankings, just five spots shy of his career high of No. 46, as a result of his exploits this week in the Austrian Alps.
–IANS
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